The Addis Ababa City Administration Landholding Registration and Information Agency is expanding a modern address system to standardize street names and house numbers, enhancing accessibility for residents, businesses, and visitors.
The initiative aims to improve urban mobility, emergency response times, and service delivery by making it easier to locate households, roads, and key infrastructure. According to Temesgen Haile Yohannes, Director of Address System Expansion and Management, 133 address plaques have already been installed, with plans to cover all legally recognized buildings and 30,000 roads within two years.
Ethiopia has lagged in adopting modern address systems, but this project, aligned with the city’s urban development plans, seeks to bridge that gap. The Birr 180 million initiative integrates address plaques with existing infrastructure such as electricity poles, streetlights, and bridges, reducing costs and ensuring widespread coverage.
A key feature is a digital database developed with the Ethiopian Space Science and Geospatial Institute, accessible via websites, mobile apps, and GPS services. While households will not pay for initial installations, they will be responsible for replacing damaged plaques. Data collection for the digital transition is already in progress.
Source: The Ethiopian Herald
